by Alice Oseman
4.8 · 4 reviewsTwo boys, one shared desk, and the quiet beginning of something neither of them saw coming.
Charlie Spring is a shy, openly gay Year 10 student who has spent the past year keeping his head down at his all-boys grammar school. Nick Nelson is a friendly, rugby-playing boy in the year above, the kind of person everyone seems to like. When the two are seated next to each other in form, an unlikely friendship sparks almost instantly, built on small kindnesses, shared laughter, and an easy warmth that feels different from anything either of them expected.
As Charlie is gently pulled into Nick's world, the line between friendship and something deeper grows harder to ignore. But Charlie has been hurt before, and Nick is only beginning to understand his own feelings, leaving both of them navigating hope, doubt, and the terrifying vulnerability of letting someone in.
Told through Alice Oseman's soft, expressive black-and-white art, this first volume captures the breathless uncertainty of falling for someone for the very first time, and the courage it takes to believe you might be wanted back.
First published in 2019.
4 reviews
Lovely, gentle, and easy to fall in love with the characters. My only note is that it ends just as things get going, so it really works best if you have the next volumes ready to go. As a standalone it feels a little short.
I picked this up expecting something light and ended up reading it twice in one sitting. The art is so tender and the way Charlie and Nick's friendship slowly shifts into something more is handled with so much care. It genuinely made me smile the whole way through.
I came to Heartstopper after watching the series and somehow the original art is even more charming. Charlie is so easy to root for and Nick's whole arc of figuring himself out is done with real warmth. Already bought volume two.
Oseman does so much with so little dialogue. A glance, a blush, the little hand-drawn details, it all adds up to something that feels incredibly real. This is the kind of queer story I wish I'd had as a teenager.